J Van Lieu Incident at Gander

We were at Gander Field, New Foundland. There were four passengers on board our C-47 (Sn# 43-15918) in addition to Maj. Walter P. Briggs, 1st Pilot, 1st Lt. De Rollo M. Payne, Co-Pilot, S/Sgt. John Garner, Crew Chief and our Radio Operator, Harry J. Solberg. Lt. Payne was briefing us on ditching procedures (we were about to fly to the Azores.) when someone yelled FIRE!!!! When I turned and looked past the extra gasoline tanks installed in the passenger area, the radio compartment appeared to be engulfed in flames terrifyingly close to the full fuel tanks. We jumped out of the cargo door, landed running and dove into a nearby drainage ditch.

Sgt. Garner had accidentally discharged a Very Pistol while preparing for the impending flight. He also put out the fire.

Maj. Briggs left through the pilots window which is not an easy feat. In doing so he tore loose an antenna that was fixed the next day but a replacement for the broken window was not available. Rather than take the chance that our plane would be cannibalized for parts for other planes Maj. Briggs chose to fly to the Azores without a window. Once there a replacement was installed while I was on guard duty. Trustingly I stood in the shade of a wing while the repair crew did their work. Unfortunately for me they also were passing items out the other side of the plane.

Maj. Briggs didn’t say anything when he found his flashlight missing or even when he couldn’t find his sun glasses but when he realized his Stateside whiskey was gone, that is when ‘IT’ hit the fan. Of course from then on dirty duty was my middle name. Since I had been a student of Architecture before the war I was doubly disappointed at being on guard duty when we were at Agra but Maj. Briggs relented somewhat and made a low level circle around the Taj as we left. I appreciated that.

Lt. Payne became one of our first casualties after we set up at Sylhet. Ironically Maj. Walter Briggs became the first civilian Airline casualty after the war.

Cpl. John F. Van Lieu, Headquarters, 1st Combat Cargo Group

I am looking for former members of the 3rd Combat Cargo Group, 1st, Combat Cargo Group, 2nd Combat Cargo Group and the 4th Combat Cargo Group. In fact I would like to hear from anyone who flew over the Hump during WW II, or flew any Combat Cargo Missions at any time (Berlin Air-Lift, Korea, etc.)

Please e-mail comment, suggestions, corrections,etc to: bill@comcar.org

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